Once each month, the International English class enjoys a field trip called “Fun Friday.” This activity introduces students to American culture as well as gives them practice in speaking English.

The class visited a shopping mall where they were given “scavenger hunt” assignments to visit stores and ask- in English- for various items that would prove the students had visited the store.  Other events have included visiting an aquarium, visiting The Perot Museum in Dallas where students dissected cows’ eyes. Most recently they held a “two-on-two” basketball game featuring two of our international high school boys against the principal Mr. Cook, and a retired National Basketball Association (NBA) player, Mark Aguirre. Mr. Aguirre was twice an outstanding player on a national championship team. The boys thought Mr. Cook and another teacher would be their opponents.  However, the other teacher was unable to participate, and the boys were surprised when Mr. Aguirre was introduced to them as his substitute.

As would be expected, the high school boys lost the game, but still considered themselves to be winners.  They each received photographs and basketballs signed by Mr. Aguire and thoroughly enjoyed playing with an outstanding professional. One was heard to say after the game, “Today was the very best day of my entire life.”

A survey of the class revealed that of all the Fun Friday activities, the basketball game was the favorite among the majority of the students.

Of course, the majority of the class time is spent perfecting English skills.  The class meets for three hours each day and focuses on reading comprehension, speaking and vocabulary building, and writing using correct grammar. The entire class meets together initially, then is divided into smaller groups according to their English proficiency.

Several different native languages are spoken among class members so English is the common language. The class affords students the opportunity to learn each other’s culture while they improve their English skills.